(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional scaffold and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a three-dimensional scaffold that is formed with a biodegradable polymer and a hydrogel and a method of manufacturing the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A tissue engineering field is a technology field that cultivates a small quantity of extracted cell from a patient's tissue into a large quantity at the outside of the patient's body and that differentiates the cell to a three-dimensional tissue and that regenerates the three-dimensional tissue into a tissue and an organ in order to regenerate damaged internal organs and with respect to a tissue engineering field, in order to restore a function of various tissues and organs of a damaged human body, a research of various approach methods has been performed.
In tissue engineering, for three-dimensional cultivation of a tissue, a scaffold in which a cell can recognize as a three-dimensional environment is necessary, and in order to induce smooth deposition, propagation, and differentiation of a cell, the scaffold should have an appropriate extra cellular matrix (ECM) structure. Further, a scaffold should have a porous three-dimensional structure that is connected to an appropriate size for vein infiltration for movement of a cell, promotion of metabolism, and supply of nutritive elements and should sustain appropriate strength that can sustain the form for a tissue regeneration period.
Conventionally, in order to obtain such a three-dimensional scaffold, a method such as a gas foaming/salt leaching method, a phase separation method, a solvent-casting particulate-leaching method, and an emulsion freeze-drying method is used, and a scaffold that is manufactured by this method has a limitation in adjustment of a size, a position and a porosity of a pore of a porous structure. Further, in order to enhance a connection between pores within a scaffold, a porosity is much increased and thus a problem that mechanical strength is also lowered occurs.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.